Advent

All the humans in this house are icky sick right now. I'm on antibiotics for an upper respiratory infection. John sounds like he is on the brink of losing his voice. Tyler...poor Tyler. He woke up last night throwing up; and in the process of coming out into the family room to look for us, he left a trail of throw up all the way down the hall. He was covered. His bed was covered. The floor by his bed. His pillow. As I was following this unsavory trail back with paper towels and carpet cleaner in hand, it suddenly hit me how far I've come in my life in my ability to deal with minor catastrophes like this. When I was younger, just the SOUND of someone being sick would make me gag, never mind the smell.

Gross, I know. But I am now able to clean up both cat and human upchuck and my dinner stays put. Considering how sensitive I used to be, that is a pretty amazing thing. Hopefully we'll all be back to normal soon. Ty has missed a week and a half of school in the last 2 weeks.

Onto a more positive (less disgusting) topic! For a few years now, I've been keeping my eyes open for the perfect kid-friendly Advent (or countdown) calendar for us to mark the days left until Christmas. I had a feeling that Tyler would love revealing daily surprises and sticking and/or hanging them onto ... something. I saw fabric wall hangings with velcro doodads in numbered pouches. Nice, but not exactly what I wanted. I saw poster sized paper calendars with little "doors" to lift open and reveal a picture or piece of chocolate. Not bad, but they were really only good for one year. I wanted something we could use over and over.

Then I spotted these pretty wooden ones, free standing with little drawers for each day of December. One I saw was magnetic. (Getting better!) THEN I saw it. It was a free-standing Christmas tree on a festive painted pedestal. The pedestal/stand was octagonal shaped with little doors all around marked with the days. Each door held a little ornament that would hang from pegs all around the tree and the entire table-top wood sculpture swiveled on its base like a lazy susan. I was in love!

Then I looked at the price. *gasp* $70. Yikes. So I did my usual internet comparison shopping research. I finally found it (and bought it) off Ebay for $40. Yay me! And sure enough, Tyler has been really looking forward each day to opening a new door, unwrapping the little ornament inside (each is wrapped in tissue) and then hanging it from a peg on the tree. The size of it was a nice surprise too. It's much bigger than I expected. It looks fab on my living room coffee table.

That is soooo cool! Where did you find it before E-bay? In other words, what national store that I might have locally had it? LOL! I think my grandson would like one of these next year.http://journals.aol.com/astaryth/AdventuresofanEclecticMindhttp://adventuresofaneclecticmind.blogspot.com/

Becky, I am still in catch up mode, but I am so sorry you've all been sick. I love the Advent tree- my mother used tosend us all Advent calendars, and I miss having one(despite my paganism!)I hope you can enjoy this holiday season. Margo

It is amazing how you can adapt to barf. When I was younger it used to totally gross me out, but after years of child care, I got to the point where I could clean up barf and go right back to my lunch or whatever. Still, I feel for you. Hope you all feel better soon!

Awww, feel better Yanagi family :o( Loving the Christmas tree advent thingy, how cool is that?! Lovely that it will be used for many years to come too. Imagining growed up Tyler bringing it out for his kiddies some day, if Becky can ever bear to let it go ;o)Sara x

Me: A 50 year old frustrated genius living in the 'burbs. Life: SAHM with 2 sons and a great husband. Health: Endometriosis, Spinal Arthritis, Fat, Anemic, Prone to Depression. Other: Adopted, Old School Geek, SF fangirl, Photography Hobbiest.
Not flesh of my flesh, Nor bone of my bone,
But still miraculously my own.
Never forget for a single minute,
You didn't grow under my heart - but in it.
--- Fleur Conkling Heylinger